What Family is For
by xoxoVanillaOrchidxoxo
Summary: The death of a loved one and loss of a spouse leaves Lily reeling... will her father-in-law be there for her? And what about a new surprise? Written for the IWSC Season 2.


**A/N: Written for the International Wizarding School Championship. Many thanks to all of my wonderful betas, and this story is dedicated to my family who has given me so much, and to the memory of my freshman year English teacher, who showed me the liberating joy writing brings. Also ****not ****Cursed Child compliant.**

**School:** Beauxbatons

**Year:** 4

**Theme:** Godric's Hollow

**Special Rule: **Write a pairing you've never written before - platonic, Lily Luna Potter x Draco Malfoy, romantic - Lily Luna Potter x Scorpius Malfoy

**Main Prompt: **[Character] Lily Luna Potter

**Side Prompts: **[Weather] Thunderstorm, [Dialogue] "Sometimes doing the best thing for the one you love means doing nothing at all."

**Word Count:** 1512

* * *

The crack of thunder roared in the distance as Lily Apparated to her and Scorpius' home. No. _Her _home. She would never get used to calling it hers. Solely hers.

She lost her balance as she materialised right in the centre of the drawing-room, stabilising herself on the coffee table. Tears formed in her eyes as she sat on the couch, trying to rid herself of the dizziness. _Damn pregnancy hormones, _she thought, shaking her head. She was 38 weeks pregnant and was trying to keep herself together after the murder of Scorp at the hands of radical neo-Death Eaters as well as the recent loss of Grandpa Weasley. Things hadn't been going her way recently, and all she wanted to do was bring her baby to term properly.

Lily had been sleeping at her mum's and dad's place the past three weeks, ever since the death of her husband. Coming back to her house had been something she'd been putting off, but when her mum had told her that she couldn't bear to see her daughter in such a state, Lily had left. Unadvised, of course, but she had never been one to follow any form of reason or advice. Like when she'd started dating Scorp in fifth year. There had been talk, of course, but when she'd slugged one of the bullies right in the nose in the Great Hall (what could she say? she _idolised _Aunt 'Mione), no one had bothered them after that.

Tears fell from her eyes and landed on the photos on her mantel: one in the fall of their fifth year. As she watched, photo Scorp picked her up and threw her into a pile of leaves, then jumped in after her. The pair laughed as he tickled her, and their smiles shone like the candles in the Great Hall on a stormy evening. The next was of his graduation, then hers. The final one was of their wedding; Lily wearing a simple white gown with trailing lace sleeves, walking with her father, Harry Potter. She reached the end of the aisle, kissed him on the cheek, and joined Scorp on the platform. He looked dashing in a suit of black velvet, as did his father Draco Malfoy, who was the celebrant. The pair turned to the camera and smiled a beautiful smile, which made the watching Lily nauseous.

A thousand thoughts raced through her head as she fell back onto the couch. Doubling over, she screamed into her knees, feeling the agony of loss course through her blood like the lightning outside. Her voice mingled with the thunder. She heard a pounding coming from the front hall, and for a brief second, she hoped that it was one of the Death Eaters, come to finish off the Malfoy-Potter duo. She realised she wouldn't get what she wished for as a gentle hand laid on her shoulder, and a quiet voice asked, "Lily?"

When Lily didn't respond, Draco continued, "Are you all right? I came to see if you needed anything, but when I heard you scream, I came running. Is it the baby?"

She raised her head, and her eyes met the concerned gaze of Draco Malfoy. She and her father-in-law had always been close since he and Harry had reconciled after Albus and Scorp had befriended each other. They'd had many common interests and had always been plotting some prank or another when she was a kid. Now his eyes expressed only concern—the same concerned eyes Scorp had shown her when he'd heard of Grandpa Weasley's death.

Lily, overcome with emotion, could only shake her head. "No," she choked out, "it's him. Merlin, Draco, I just miss him _so much._"

Draco sighed and pulled Lily to his chest. "I know, Lils, I know. It felt like this when I Iost Tori, too," he whispered.

That only made Lily cry harder. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that twice, Draco! I'm so sorry! I'm the reason that Scorp is dead!" she wailed.

"Lily Luna Potter-Malfoy, you listen to me. You are _not _the reason that Scorp was in Diagon Alley that day, okay? He had his own business to attend to, and it's _not_ your fault that you weren't feeling well. That's pregnancy. Okay? Don't blame yourself. That's not what Scorp would want."

Lily looked up at Draco, her eyes questioning his words.

Draco sighed. "Someone once told me that sometimes doing the best thing for the one you love means doing nothing at all. Don't beat yourself up and blame yourself. It's a lesson that's been hard-learned for me, and I don't want you to have to experience that too. Okay?"

Lily only nodded. Draco hugged her harder, then sat next to her on the couch, holding her hand, reassuring her. After a few minutes of the pair crying together, listening to the rain beat against the windows, Draco stood up. "Come on," he said. "Let's get some tea."

"Okay," Lily said, holding her arms to him. "Help?" she asked, as she'd done so many times as a child. He'd been one of her idols back then, as he still was now.

Draco laughed and gladly obliged, helping his daughter-in-law—well, more like his daughter—up.

Lily laughed also, wiping tears away from her reddened eyes. As she waddled away, Draco noticed a wet spot on the couch. "Lily…. I think your water broke…."

Lily turned around, and her eyes zeroed in on what Draco was talking about. Lightning flashed, illuminating her vision. "Oh, shite..."

* * *

Forty-seven hours and many screams from the tiny white room Lily was situated in later, and the Healer opened the door to the waiting room where her family was anxiously waiting. Draco had been pacing the floor, and Ginny and Harry were playing Gobstones_, _of all things. The rest of the family had gone home to catch a bit of sleep. When the door opened, however, they stopped all their actions and stared at the Healer, their sleep-depravity and concern showing clearly in their eyes.

"There were a few complications during the birth, but everyone is safe and healthy, and Mummy is ready for you!" she said cheerfully, and hurried off, stifling a yawn on the way. _Thank Merlin _her shift was over.

Draco and the Potters headed into Lily's room to see her holding not one but _two _babies. The grandparents stopped in shock. Lily cackled her maniacal, I've-Been-Plotting-Something-Devious laugh, and said, "Well, I guess my children like playing pranks as much as I do! Apparently, they never caught one of the babies on the ultrasound!"

At the sound of the word 'babies,' the mini Malfoy-Potters started to wail. Ginny smoothed her hand over the slight fuzz covering the children's heads and hummed an old nursery rhyme. The babies quieted down, and for a while, all that could be heard was the light rain still pattering on the sidewalk below.

"What're you going to name them?" Draco asked reverently as he tiptoed over to the bed, breaking the silence. Lily handed him the bundle wrapped in blue, and the one in pink over to her parents.

"Well, to stay in the star theme, for this one,"—she tickled the baby boy's chin—"I'm going to call him Astrophel, which means 'star lover,' because Scorp was my star. And for this one,"—she smoothed the slight red fuzz over the girl's head—"I'm going to call her Andrea. It means 'strength,' and I'm going to need as much strength as possible to raise these two demons on my own! They were the names Scorp and I had decided on when he was still here since we didn't know the gender."

"Those are beautiful names, sweetie. What about middle names, though? And their last names?" Ginny asked, leaning into the arm Harry put around her shoulder.

"Well, their last name is simple—Malfoy-Potter! And for middle names, Andrea's will be Artemis, which is a female derivative of Arthur. And for Astro, I'm going to go with… with Scorpius," she said, tears falling down her cheeks. Matching ones formed in Draco's eyes. "I miss my husband every day, and I want my children to know their father was a brave, kind, honourable man, and what better way to honour him than give them his name? The same goes for Grandpa Weasley," Lily explained.

By now, everyone in the room was crying from how much loss their combined families had suffered in the war and afterwards. After a round of hugs, the two Potters dried their eyes and went to alert the other members of the family of the birth of the Malfoy-Potters. Draco sat on the edge of Lily's bed, still holding baby Astrophel Scorpius. _His _Scorpius. Already the baby reminded him so much of his lost son. He took hold of his daughter-in-law's—no, _daughter's_—hand and looked her straight in the eye.

"You're wrong, you know," he said in a hushed voice.

"Hmm? How so?"

"You won't be raising these two demons on your own. That's what family is for."

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please review! I'd love to hear from you!**


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